


all those things and more

by exyjunkies



Category: Green Creek Series - T.J. Klune
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Romantic Fluff, also JOX GETTING MARRIED?????? yes, anyway this was on tumblr but it got too long, i mean technically green creek IS an a/b/o series lol, me: cried while writing this, tessa really outdid me here with this prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 02:22:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16461632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exyjunkies/pseuds/exyjunkies
Summary: Ox asks Joe to marry him.Which takes... a little bit of explaining, but that's okay.





	all those things and more

**Author's Note:**

> Written for an ask prompt - Jox + "Marry me?" - and it got longer than I thought it would be, so here it is.

Ever since he was young, Joe had always loved a certain _something_  about the vast, magical forest of Green Creek. From the leaves that scattered to the ground every time a wind blew, to the way birds would fly in various formations across the warm afternoon sky, to the crickets that would sing with the pack whenever they ran at half past midnight, Joe decided a long time ago that he wouldn’t change anything.

On some days, he would go to a special clearing in the woods, one that only he knew, and he would sit there and close his eyes. Sometimes he went as a wolf, other times, he didn’t bother to shift at all. This was one of the clearings that Thomas had brought him to when he was a child. He favored this one over the others, because it was here that Thomas pointed out that he could feel the forest’s magic speak to him.

 _What does it tell you?_  Joe remembered asking, looking at a snail moving slowly by.

Thomas had his eyes closed and his head tilted up a bit.  _Oh, it tells you what you need to know_.

_And how do you know when you need to know something?_

_When it feels right_.

Joe smiled at this memory, going back inside the house. His afternoon meditation had been peaceful, a few deer and rabbits coming to sit beside him. It was a quiet Sunday afternoon, and most of the pack had their plans before gathering for Sunday dinner. Just like always.

“I hope things never change,” he muttered to himself, walking up to his and Ox’s room. It was never a bad day to be proud of his pack.

The door was slightly ajar, but because he could hear _that heartbeat_ , Joe knew Ox was inside. Just as he was about to go inside, Joe stopped – he felt Ox’s heartbeat quicken a little. Joe made sure to stay quiet, and listened.

“Uh… how do I say this,” Joe heard Ox say, and then a few frantic steps back and forth. Some rustling, and then a loud inhale. Then, something falling off of a shelf. Joe was so confused, but decided to stay outside.

“Joe,” Ox said firmly, and Joe perked up. “You’ve known ever since you were ten years old– no, that’s weird. He was _a kid_ , for crying out loud.”

A pause, and then, “So I know mates are a thing and all, but I was wondering– _agh_ , that doesn’t sound right. How about… so you might be wondering about _why_  I smell so nervous, right? Ha ha. Wow. _That_  was even worse. Tsk, what about– Joseph Bennett. My best friend, my first love, my Alpha, my mate. I– _have absolutely no idea how to do this_.”

Then, the sound of something–probably Ox–flopping onto the bed. Joe blinked a few times. He _did_  smell nervousness, but the bond still felt… peaceful. An edge of sureness to it. So, really, it had been his instinct to not assume anything was wrong.

Down the hallway, Elizabeth’s head popped out of her and Thomas’ bedroom. She raised an eyebrow, and Joe shrugged in reply. Elizabeth made an _okay_  face, and went back inside.

Slowly, Joe pushed the door open and went inside his and Ox’s room. His eyes widened at the display in front of him.

Yeah, Ox was face-down on the bed, but surrounding him on the bed were several scattered rose petals, and a small dark box in his hand. Smaller than the box that held his stone wolf. On their bedside table was a larger box of the same color. And the room. The room smelled so much like–

“Candy canes and pinecones,” Joe mumbled, making Ox sit up quickly.

“Oh, no,” Ox said, and it was a rushed moment of him standing up and straightening the gray shirt he had on. “You weren’t supposed to– I mean, I–”

“Didn’t think this through?” Joe offered, the smirk evident, even in his words. 

“Yeah,” Ox sighed, slumping back down on the bed. He slouched a little. “Gordo helped me with the smell of the room. I didn’t think it’d be strong enough that I wouldn’t be able to smell you right outside. Or hear you, for that matter. Or maybe I was too wrapped up in worrying about this that I didn't hear you. Either way, I think our room got smellproofed _and_  soundproofed. That man really thinks of everything. _Christ_.”

“For what?”

Ox took one look at him, and Joe saw his mate’s sharp brown eyes full of… of _something._ Taking a deep breath, Ox stood up, and pulled Joe up by the hand.

“Joe,” Ox said, a little shakily, and Joe put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. For a while, both of them just stood there, looking at each other, sending each other waves of calm through the bond. _matematealphaalphaloveloveokayokay_ thrummed through, and Joe shot Ox a small smile.

Then, shaking himself out of the stunned silence, Ox cleared his throat.

“You know what? _Fuck it_.” Ox went, and Joe frowned a little. The frown turned into a raised eyebrow and a roll of the shoulders when Ox went to kneel on one knee. The dark box stayed in Ox’s hand.

“Joe, you know I haven’t always been the best at getting the point across. Sometimes, I feel dumb and I say stupid things. Dumb as an ox, like what a lot of people say. And I think this is why I worried about this for _weeks_. The whole… secret was not exactly hard to pull off, but it still needed some work. Especially with keeping this room to myself for most of today. You went on your secret forest excursions every now and then– _yes, Joseph_ , we know you head off on your own sometimes, don’t deny it–so the moment you left here, at precisely one in the afternoon, I got everything ready. The rings, the collars, and the room prepping, and _even_ the speech. Which I should’ve followed, by the way. I’m not the best at these things, as you may already know–”

“Ox,” Joe said, placing a hand on Ox’s forearm to interrupt him. He didn’t know if the confusion could be made any more obvious. “What exactly are you doing?”

And then Ox’s face tilted a little, and then, afterwards, he smiled knowingly. Nodding slowly, he looked down at the small dark box in his hand.

“Right,” Ox said slowly. “Purebred werewolf. _Of course_  you wouldn’t know what I’m doing.”

Now, Joe was _even more_  lost.

“And what does my being a werewolf have anything to do with–”

“Joe, when two humans love each other, they get _married_. A marriage is some sort of,” at this, Ox rotated his hand, “ _ritual_  where they profess their love for one another. The entire stone wolf thing for werewolves? This is more or less the same thing. Except for humans, they take time before they get to asking. This is called an _engagement,_ the entire asking process before the actual marriage. The actual marriage is a ceremony with vows and shit. After, there’s a whole party, where everyone’s invited. And then there’s a honeymoon where the couple takes time away from everything and everyone.

“Which we can’t do,” Ox added after a beat, shrugging. “Because we’re Alphas. Hence the whole soundproofed and smellproofed room. When the door is open, the place is with the whole pack, but when it’s shut, it’s really just… for the two of us.

“Anyway, as I was saying.” With one hand, Ox opened the small dark box, and there sat two rings. One had a black diamond on it, the band encrusted with an intricate design of smaller black diamonds and a swirling of even smaller white ones. The other had a white diamond on it with two smaller black diamonds beside it, and even smaller white diamonds trailing the black ones.

Ox let out a huff. “Gordo and the humans picked them out. Along with the collars, which they say we can wear before we shift, and the collars will stay on. Although I haven’t tried it myself. I just hope they don’t break. Uh, obviously, the ring with the white diamond is yours. Although I don’t know why I get the more showy ring. I am  _not_ the bigger show-off. Those bastards.”

Joe’s eyes glinted. The rings were beautiful, and he could tell he’d like wearing the one made for him. But he felt like it still wasn’t his turn to speak, so he merely nodded.

After a while, Ox spoke up again. “Anyway. On to the real thing. Give me your hand.”

Joe gave his left hand, and Ox held it gently.

“Joe. This might not be what werewolves normally do, but I couldn’t fight the feeling that we _should_  be married. I want to call you my husband, and I want that feeling of pride to rush through me when you call me yours. You’ve made your promise with the stone wolf. Even if the promise started all those years ago, and at a time when I really didn’t know any better, that promise still rings true up to today, and I’m so, so thankful. These rings, I think, will help me make a promise of my own. I’m not saying I’m going to be the best husband, the best Alpha, the best mate. Hell, you’ve seen me at my worst, and _you’re still here_ , for some fucking reason. What I’m saying is… from now on, there won’t be a day where I won’t be _trying_  to be all those things for you. All those things and _more_. If you’ll let me.”

Letting go of Joe’s hand briefly, Ox slid out out the white diamond ring, set the small dark box down, and held it just across Joe’s ring finger.

“So will you do it, Joe?” Ox asked, eyes wide and wonderful, and Joe felt like he was about to cry. “Marry me?”

The emotions, heightened by the wolf in him, were so overwhelming. And all Joe could do, really, was quickly reply, “ _Yes_ , Ox, of course I’ll marry you, now if you can stop all the rambling, can you _shut up_  and can I _please_ , please kiss you now?”

Ox laughed, slid the ring onto Joe’s finger, and stretched his arms wide.

“Okay, Joe,” Ox said, and laughed as Joe tackled him to the ground. Joe kissed his mate– _his soon-to-be-husband_ , the words rang through his mind–and felt Ox’s content hum ring through him.

“The other ring’s just for formality’s sake,” Ox said, shutting the box with one finger. “In engagements, only one person asks. So if you don’t feel like it–”

Joe put his finger on Ox’s mouth, made a grab for the box, and opened it with a flourish. The black diamond, clear-cut and imposing, shone against the light.

He grabbed the ring and took hold of Ox’s hand. Joe sat back a little, allowing Ox to sit up a bit.

Thinking back to what Thomas said, Joe wondered if the forest left out certain things. If there was one thing he was glad the forest’s magic didn’t tell him, it was this.

“Ox, you might’ve just said… _everything_  I could say,” Joe began, and Ox laughed even more. “But you have always meant  _the world_  to me. Ever since that day we met on the road. And if anything, this ‘marriage’ is just another way to show you that we’re made for each other. For the rest of our lives. Oxnard Matheson. Will you marry me?”

Blinking up at Joe, Ox’s eyes held part of his smile.

“ _Yes_ ,” Ox replied, nodding as Joe put his ring on Ox’s finger. “Yes, Joe.”

A fire burned in Joe’s chest, warm and glowing. Ox looked like he felt it too, the smile on his face bright and wide. The ring on Joe's finger felt like it already belonged there. 

“Now, where were we,” Joe said, and cupped Ox’s face in his hands. Ox’s arms went around Joe’s waist. They held each other and kissed, until the room became too dark for them to see anything but their eyes, fierce and flashing in the dark.

**Author's Note:**

> Here is [Joe's ring](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61X9Li97-XL._UY395_.jpg) and [Ox's ring](https://www.kay.com/images/products/9911/991111802_MV_ZM.jpg) if you wanna see them!


End file.
